Page 3 of Mistletoe and Mischief

“We have to get this settled.” Mel joined forces with his older brother.

Again Ned didn’t speak. He cast her a look of quiet sympathy but he wasn’t taking sides. Mary Jo could see that he felt Linc and Mel were right—not about becoming Mrs. Rhodes but about the need for her to make some kind of decision.

“Okay, okay, but we’ve already said everything there is to say.” She sagged onto the sofa and tried to keep her eyes open.

Linc glanced at the clock, too. “As of about one minute ago, it’s officially Christmas Eve. Rhodes promised to be in touchbeforeChristmas.”

Exhaling a deep sigh, Mary Jo shrugged. “He might’ve saidonChristmas. I’ve forgotten.”

“Well, I haven’t.” Mel’s feet were braced wide apart, his arms folded across his massive chest.

“I haven’t forgotten, either.” Linc, too, crossed his arms. They looked like bouncers at a tough bar, but Mary Jo feared the person they’d toss out on his ear would be David Rhodes.

And he’d deserve it; she knew that. He’d deceived her not once, not twice, but a dozen times or more. Some of the responsibility was hers, though. Even though she was aware that he’d abused her trust, she’d continued to believe him, giving him chance after chance. Now her brothers were trying to save her from him—and from herself.

“David said he’d contact youbeforeChristmas,” Linc reminded her. “That’s less than twenty-four hours.”

“Yes, it is.” Her agreeing with him was sure to confuse her well-meaning brothers.

Apparently shocked by her unaccustomed meekness, Linc frowned, then checked the clock again. “Yup, less than twenty-four hours. It’s time you realized he has no intention of doing the proper thing.”

Mary Jo couldn’t argue with that. She was just tired of discussing it. “You never know,” she said, forcing a note of optimism into her voice.

“Then you’re living in a dream world, little sister,” Mel said through gritted teeth.

Ned sat down next to Mary Jo and reached for her hand. “Linc and Mel are right,” he told her gently.

“About what?” She was so exhausted, her vision had started to blur.

“Someone needs to get in touch with David. If we can’t find him, then one of his family members. He has to be held accountable.”

Linc snorted again. “David Rhodes needs to make an honest woman of you.”

If Mary Jo heard that one more time she was going to scream. “Iaman honest woman! I don’t need David or any man to validate what each of you should already know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Linc muttered. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot. It’s only an expression.”

“What we all want,” Mel began, as if to clarify their thoughts, “is for you to be happy—withthe father of your baby.”

Mary Jo doubted that was even possible. She’d lost faith in David and as much as she wanted to believe he loved her and cared about their child, the evidence stated otherwise.

“He’s not giving us any choice,” Linc said, his dark eyes menacing. “We’re going to find him and—”

“Linc, please. Hold off for a few days. Please.” She hated to plead but it was Christmas and she didn’t want to see the holiday ruined for any of them. She was protecting David—again—and the irony didn’t escape her. Despite all these months of intermittent contact and broken promises, Mary Jo still felt the urge to shield him from her brothers.

But her real concern was for Linc, Mel and Ned. She didn’t wantthemending up in jail because of David.

“We’re not waiting a minute longer!” Mel boomed. “If David’s in Cedar Cove, we’re going to track him down.”

“No. Please,” she said shakily.

“You don’t have a say in this anymore.”

“Linc, it’s my life! Listen to me. I—”

“We’ve listened to you enough,” her brother said matter-of-factly. “Now the three of us have decided to take matters into our own hands.”

Mary Jo couldn’t let her brothers get involved. She shuddered as she imagined them storming into Cedar Cove on Christmas Eve, bent on forcing David to marry her.

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